Blog & News

Effort is a step toward strengthening the evidence base for employer adoption of paid leave

SEATTLE, June 6, 2018 - Today Panorama announced a partnership with Nestlé, Union Square Hospitality Group, Limeade, Burton Snowboards, Busboys and Poets, and TCG, among others, to further the adoption of paid leave by U.S. employers. The Paid Leave Pledge, which launched today, galvanizes leading business voices on paid leave around a commitment to share data on the impact of their paid family and medical leave (PFML) programs and calls on others to join. The effort has gained endorsement from former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, Chris Lu, who acts as an advisor, and JUST Capital, who provides support for data collection analysis.

“We are excited to partner with industry leaders on this important work, and are calling on other employers who track the impact of their policies to share what they have learned,” said Kimble Snyder, Director at Panorama. “By collectively building the evidence base, businesses can ensure that more Americans have access to the resources that help them thrive both at work and at home.”

For Nestle, the pledge reinforces the company’s efforts to implement a range of parental workplace support policies launched in 2016 and designed to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for families. In addition to a broad network of parenthood support resources, Nestle offers primary caregivers up to 14 weeks of paid leave and an additional 12 weeks of unpaid leave following the birth or adoption of a newborn child.

This founding cohort of business leaders has carefully considered how they can improve the quality of life for their employees and their families through internal, worker-centric policies. Over the next three months, Panorama will be reaching out to companies, businesses large and small, across a range of industries to gain additional commitments, with the forthcoming round of adopters slated for announcement in September 2018. Throughout a yearlong cycle, the consortium of businesses will share strategies and best practices, leading to the release of data impacts in summer of 2019.

“Through our work with the private sector at the Department of Labor, we repeatedly heard from businesses that the hardest thing was not having strong data on the impact of PFML policies,” said Lu. “Ultimately, there is a gap in data and this initiative is an important step toward addressing it.”

Tracking the results of paid leave requires flexibility, given the specific needs of each business, but there are some broad areas of impact that apply to businesses universally. In conjunction with the pledge, Panorama is developing a return-on-investment framework to provide employers with a comprehensive model of costs and benefits relating to a paid family and medical leave policy. Starting with a flexible approach is a recognition that, while not all business models are the same, there is value in better understanding the specific needs across industry sectors to protect both the wellbeing of workers and the sustainability of business.

“We’ve seen encouraging data thus far that suggest robust paid leave programs can lead to positive health outcomes and foster a more committed workforce,” said Judy Cascapera, Chief People Officer at Nestlé USA. “There is true power in this data and we hope to encourage other likeminded companies to share their analytics and learnings as we collectively work across industries to build even stronger programs for employees and their families.”

The pledge is a great opportunity for companies to better understand how to make workplace flexibilities work, and for those leading the way on these models to inspire others. Panorama serves as a trusted ally for businesses looking to expand or launch paid family and medical leave programs through its work on The Paid Leave Project. Access resources for businesses, learn how to participate in the paid leave conversation, and join future events at www.uspaidleave.org

Effort will strengthen business case for voluntary employer adoption of paid leave

SEATTLE, April 9, 2018 – The Paid Leave Project, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will study how employers monitor the impact and track the outcomes of their paid leave programs. Encouraging employers to share their data externally, and supporting them in doing so, will help build evidence to address one of the largest concerns around paid leave adoption—cost.

Today, there is no standard approach to calculating the business value, health impacts, or general return on investment of paid leave. In the absence of a national policy, paid leave is a benefit some companies choose to offer. Employers looking to build a business case need data to understand the investment and impact. The Paid Leave Project is helping by developing measurement guidelines, sharing best practices and amplifying the voices of businesses.

“The next wave of employers looking to voluntarily offer paid leave want data,” said Angela Romei, director of The Paid Leave Project. “We believe that encouraging and supporting those who already offer paid leave to share their data and business results externally will reduce overall fear around costs and barriers to adoption.”

Tracking the results of paid leave requires flexibility, given the specific needs of each business, but there are consistent metrics and costs that will apply universally. To start, The Paid Leave Project is focusing on three areas: cost, business results, and health outcomes. Within these areas, success measurements include employee attraction, retention, engagement, morale, and changes in infant and parent health.

Tracking data is still the missing link in understanding the true impact of paid family and medical leave. Faced with a changing workforce, employers in every sector are exploring the impact of benefits like paid leave to productivity and their bottom lines.

Established in 2016 by Panorama, The Paid Leave Project works with employers to demonstrate the business case for paid leave by sharing research and resources. The team engaged with more than 470 large employers in 2017 to learn their paid leave stories and published a report on the findings. It was through this initial work with large employers that the need for measurement, or the return on investment, of paid leave was raised.